Fated
by horseridersierra195
Summary: "Sebastian, do you believe in fate?" his Mistress asked. He looked at her and saw her emerald eyes staring at him with an intense curiosity that he knew would not fade until he answered her question. "Not particularly... Why do you ask, my Lady?" She sighed and looked away from him. "I had a feeling you would answer that..."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- So, it's been a very very long time since I've published anything... I've been writing, but never been really motivated to publish anything so I'm really hoping that this will get me back into the swing of things...**

**Anyway, this is a new fanfiction based on the world of Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler, whichever you prefer. It features our favorite demon butler, Sebastian, along with his new mistress, my very peculiar OC. I have seen the whole anime (seasons 1 and 2) twice and I am up to date on the manga, but I have to say since I was not a huge fan of the anime ending and because the manga is still in progress, I have kind of made up my own ending to Ciel's story. But don't worry, I will integrate my ending with this fanfiction in due time, so please bare with me!**

**This story is rated T, just because it is Kuroshitsuji so of course there will be some violence and possibly some mild romance.**

**I really do hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it, because it really is a fun story for me to think about. :) Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and I will gladly hear out any questions, comments, or concerns, if there are any!**

**Kuroshitsuji and any related characters and story similarities do not belong to me.**

**The fanfiction idea and all OCs are, however, all from me.**

**Enjoy~ :)**

* * *

The Earl of the Abanglis household has been engrossed with the family business ever since inheriting it when his father died. Running one of Europe's largest bank chains almost single-handedly was not an easy task, but he somehow found enjoyment in it. Rather than worry and stress about all the work, he basked in the glory of being known and a huge influential factor in many countries around the continent. Knowing that a single choice he makes alone could affect a countless number of people was the one of the reasons he didn't abandon the business when he had the chance. He wanted to make a positive change in everyone's lives; the poor, common folk, and wealthy alike. He wanted everyone to know the Abanglis name and power it held.

The young English business man sighed from his spot at the large dining table filled with people and looked out the window to the stone paved streets of Rome. He had come to Italy for a short 'conference' with some of his most supportive investors and business partners in the country. Of course, like the stereotypical Italian nature would suggest, a lot more eating and load boasting went around rather than actual work. He found it slightly exhausting to be in a 'meeting' where everyone was supposed to be 'collaborating', but instead having to do every single thing yourself.

"So Abanglis, my daughter has been very curious about your work. Would you like to meet her and explain it all, because I have no idea what you do half the time?" Este, a rich Italian merchant, asked over the obnoxious, wine filled laughs.

The young noble looked over at him and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He had received this request a few times before, so he knew what it actually turned out to be. He would waltz around with girls, who truthfully cared nothing about his line of work, while they giggled and tried to please him in effort to spark an interest. Not that he blamed them. Who wouldn't want to marry one of England's wealthiest bachelors? But little did they know that these pathetic romantic attempts would never work for reasons they could never understand.

"I would be honored, signore. But you must first warn your daughter that I will be able to do nothing more than talk business with her. I have a lady at home that I am currently interested in." Victor Abanglis lied, coolly.

The chorus of laughter sprang to life again, along with a few whistles and added comments such as "Since when?" or "Who would have known that Abanglis would actually get himself a girl?"

Victor sighed again. _Wine and alcohol can turn the most dignified and intelligent people into complete imbeciles…_ He thought.

xxx

Not long after that outburst, the group disbanded, putting an end to the somewhat unproductive conference. Once Victor said his polite goodbyes and thanks to everyone before meeting with his butler, Sebastian, who was waiting right outside.

"Good evening, Master." He greeted. "The carriage is right around the corner."

"Actually, I would like to walk back to the hotel. I need the fresh air." The young master said.

"Of course." Sebastian said, bowing in acknowledgment of the request.

The pair walked in silence for a long while until Victor broke it by asking, "Sebastian, what are you thinking?"

"I was just wondering if this trip was worth it, my Lord." The butler answered.

"Hmmm… Well I think you would already know the answer to that."

The butler chuckled. "You don't play around when it comes to the family business. You always get something done, most of the time by yourself."

"Yes, and I almost prefer doing it myself anyway. I don't need those drunken people to help me do what needs to be done. Coming here was more just to check up on them." Victor Abanglis sighed.

"You forgot to mention that you also came to send anonymous donations to the few small schools struggling to stay in business around this area." Sebastian smiled when his master didn't reply. "You are much too kind."

"I honestly thought that this time I was going to be able to keep it a secret from you." He shook his head.

"What kind of butler is unaware of what his master is doing at all times?" Sebastian chuckled again. Seeing the hotel they have been residing in for the past week in sight, he continued to speak. "Would you like me to prepare some tea for you when we reach your room?"

"No actually. I know we aren't scheduled to leave until morning, but there is a train going north late tonight, so would you mind preparing my stuff so we can leave now?" The Abanglis Earl asked, rather than ordered.

"It can be arranged. What will you do in the meantime, Master?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm going to walk some more."

"By yourself? Where will you go?" Sebastian asked again, a small amount of faked concern in his voice.

"I'm not sure where I'll go, but I know you'll be able to find me." His master answered, unconsciously stroking a spot below his left collar bone.

"Yes of course." Sebastian bowed.

xxx

"You sure this is the right guy?" said a strange, husky voice the English Earl did not recognize.

"Of course it's him!" another said, clearly annoyed.

Victor Abanglis's eyes fluttered open. The first thing he noticed was a slight throbbing in the back of his head, probably from being hit. The second thing he noticed was that he was no longer walking the streets of Rome, but rather sitting in a dark stone room with no memory of how he got there. The third thing he had figured out was that his hands and feet were bound with rope. How lovely.

When they saw he was awake, one of his captors got annoyingly close to his face. "Are you Victor Abanglis?" He asked.

"I might be. It depends who's asking." The Earl said. As he looked into the eyes of the man, he instantly despised him not only because the man had captured him, but because of all the other horrible crimes he committed. He could see the sins murder, hording, and rape among other things swim in his eyes like fish in a clear tank.

"Boss, he fits the description. English, short, skinny, pale, long dark brown hair, green eyes." A smaller guy said from the corner of the room.

"You can never be too sure…" The man in front of the Earl's face said. "Now, you will tell me. Are you the English noble and banker, Victor Abanglis?"

When the Earl refused to say anything, his cheek was met by the back of the so called Boss's hand.

"Tell me! Who are you?" Victor didn't answer and was slapped again. "Fastidioso piccolo peste." The Boss muttered.

"I'll ask again. Who sent you to find me?" He asked, calmly.

"You don't need to know that." The Boss barked. "You will answer me! Now!"

"My, my." Victor sighed. The Boss leaned into his face again, as if to intimidate, but the Earl was still unscathed by the act. Enraged, he hit Abanglis again, this time hard enough to knock the pins out of his unusually long hair; for a boy at least. Within an instant, Victor Abanglis's hair seemed to grow from its messy, shoulder length to a more elegant wave that went all the way to down to the Earl's mid back.

"What the… Who the hell are you?" The Boss yelled, stepping back to look at his captive.

"What are you?" Another man said from the corner of the room.

"Oh dear… It appears the secret has been revealed." The Earl sighed, 'his' voice seemed to now be raised a half an octave. "Victor Abanglis does not exist."

"What are you talking about?" The Boss roared, infuriated once again.

"He doesn't exist. Victor Abanglis is a mere name I use to disguise my true self. This way I can properly run the business that rightfully belongs to me. My name is Vivianna Rose Abanglis. I am, in a way, who you are looking for. The noble in charge of the whole Abanglis Banking Company, is me."


	2. Chapter 2

"There is no way…a woman is able to do all of this…by herself?" The Boss asked, wide eyed and mouth agape.

"Indeed. I can do that. And more." Vivianna Abanglis confirmed.

"More? What do you mean more?"

Vivianna stood up, the quick movement allowing her to slide out of her bindings. The three men who had kidnapped her seemed to curse in unison and prepared to pin her down. Unfortunately, they hadn't reacted quickly enough, so she quite easily avoided their gasp. She got behind the smaller man that was once standing in the corner and held a pressure point on his neck for just a second or two before he went limp fell to the ground. The second man, having a little more preparation than the first, was more ready to take her on and began to wildly throw punches at her. She quickly noticed his lack of hand-to-hand combat technique and easily maneuvered herself so she was able to trip him. The fall caused the man to hit his head on the hard stone floor and instantaneously get knocked out.

"That went better than expected… I guess, it's just us now… Boss." She turned to him, her face hollow of any emotion. "Dear Lord, please forgive me for what I have just done and what I might just do." She prayed before lunging at the final man.

He was still in too much shock to react to her movements. Before he even realized it, he was sitting on the floor, her hand at his throat and her legs straddling his knees.

"This is the last time I am going to ask this nicely. Who sent you to find me? Who dares to hurt the Abanglis name?" She asked, her voice was filled with enough venom to kill him.

"I don't… I don't know." He struggled to say.

"You don't know? How could you possibly not know who your employer is?"

"Hmm… I come here to save you, but it looks like you already have handled things quite nicely, my young Mistress." said a cool voice from behind. She turned her head to see Sebastian smirking at her, a strange, sadistic joy dancing in his red eyes. This moment of distraction made her loosen her grip and the Boss took the opportunity to get of her trap. He flipped over, knocking her to the ground so that he was able to sit up and grab her instead, pressing her back to his chest and firmly wrapping his arm around her neck. He pulled a gleaming sliver gun out of his jacket pocket and pointed it at the butler. Neither of them struggled a bit.

"Who are you?" He asked, panic surging through his voice.

"I'm the Abanglis butler, of course." He answered. "My Lady, I thought you knew never to turn away from your enemy." He scolded, as if the situation they were in wasn't dire at all.

"It must have slipped my mind. I'll do better next time, Sebastian." Vivianna said, shrugging under the weight of the Boss's arm.

"Shut up both of you! You knew about this girl's…secret?" The Boss asked the butler.

"But of course. My Mistress is willing to cross-dress in order to gain power and run her family company without question. I find it a very charming quality about her." Sebastian chuckled. "Now if you would kindly excuse us. My Mistress and I have a train to catch."

"No. She's coming with me." The Boss said, firing three shots at the butler. His eyes widened when he saw the bullets had failed to make contact with the butler's chest, but rather were all balanced between his fingers as if he was able to catch them.

"I do realize that my Mistress is most desirable, but I must insist she comes with me. As you can imagine she is an extremely busy woman." Sebastian said, dropping the bullets to the ground.

The Boss quickly turned the gun and pressed it up against Vivianna's temple. The butler made his way over to them and snatched the gun out of his hand in less than a second.

"What the hell…? That's not possible! You can't be human!" The man yelled.

"Aren't you a smart one? You are right, just like my Mistress, I have a few secrets. I am, of course, one hell of a butler." He smiled maliciously before kicking the man in the head, giving him an immediate concussion.

"Thank you, Sebastian." Vivianna said, getting up from the ground and brushing dirt from her clothes.

"You're very welcome, my Lady. Though it could have been done faster if you had summoned me." He mused.

She glared at him. "I had it under control. I can do it myself."

Sebastian sighed, loving the way he seemed to always pester her. "You're as independent as ever. Now what should we do with these low lives?"

"Well, we can't just leave them here as is. When they recover they'll know my little secret." She walked toward the doorway in thought, then looked over her shoulder to Sebastian. "Do as you wish with them. Kill them, devour them, use your demonic charms to erase their recent memories, it's up to you."

"As you wish. There is a carriage waiting for you outside, if you just follow that corridor, you should find the exit. I'll meet you there once I deal with these." Sebastian bowed.

Vivianna followed his directions and found her way out of the dark catacomb like hallway quickly. As he had promised, a carriage with all her belongings was sitting directly outside the entrance. She walked up to it before turning around to see the place she was being held captive for the past few hours.

"The Coliseum, built for the brutal entertainment of the Romans in the past. As strange as some of the events might sound, it was quite entertaining in its prime, I must say." Sebastian said, all of a sudden appearing beside her. She rolled her eyes and he suppressed a laugh. He opened the door for her and she got in, following her swiftly after telling the horseman where to go.

"Sebastian. May I know what you did to those men?" Vivianna asked, looking out the window.

"For the sake of keeping your soul pure, its best you not know." The demonic butler said with a smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

_ "Father, why do I have to be like a boy? Don't you like me how I am?" The young Vivianna asked, looking at her father as he tied her shoes._

_ "Of course. I love you just the way you are. I ask you to do this because I love you. I want you to run Father's company one day, and I don't think his work friends would like it if a girl was in charge of everything." He explained._

_ "Why wouldn't they like it?" The all-too innocent girl asked._

_ "That's just the way things are." He sighed. The father looked up at his little girl and couldn't help picturing how she might turn out when she grows older. "Come on." He picked her up and spun her around, making her shriek with laughter. "It's time to get going."_

_ The vision blurred and Vivianna was sitting on a bed in one of her father's private boats. She was older now, just about to turn 19 in a week. She was looking at her father in panic while he looked back at her, his face calmer, but you could still see a crease of worry between his brows._

_ "Father, please tell me what's going on!" She demanded._

_ "Everything is going to be alright. Just stay here. Lock the door behind me, and no matter what happens you must not leave this room until I come back for you and do not open the door for anyone but me, understand?" He instructed._

_ "Father-"_

_ "I said do you understand me, Vivianna?!" He snapped. _

_ A look of pain crossed her face. He had never spoken to her so sharply before. "Yes… I understand…"_

_ "Thank you. Vivianna…" He added._

_ "Yes?"_

_ "I love you. And I always will no matter what."_

_ She smiled. "I love you too."_

_ He exited the room and she hastily went to lock it as he instructed. Then she sat on the bed, eagerly anticipating his return. After what seemed like forever, there was a scratching sound coming from the other side of the door. Vivianna jumped up, preparing to go open it when she noticed the splashing sound her feet were making as she walked._

Water? _She thought. _Why is their water on the ground?

_ She made her way to the door again and pressed her ear against it. The sound of violent water rushing in the hallway made her gasp. Staring wide eyed at the wooden door, she backed up and tripped over her wet skirt. She didn't bother moving afterward, for she knew that the door wasn't going to keep the water back much longer and there was no point in her trying to open it now. And so she sat, praying to God and waiting for her untimely demise. When she saw the door finally start to crack, she took her last gasps for air, in a weird hope that she might possibly be able to swim out. The force of the water coming at her immediately knocked that hope and breath out of her as she was smacked to the side of the cabin._

Please… _She begged. _I can't die here! I can't! I have so much to live for! Father's company! The charities! I wanted to do so much! I just cannot die here! I don't want to die! Someone, anyone, save me!

xxx

He watched his Mistress as she slept, because he found it quite interesting. Since he had met her, he noticed she never allowed herself to show any weakness to anyone, no matter what the situation. She always stood tall and had this confident aura about her. He supposed it was just because of the way she was brought up; she has been taught to act in such a way since she was little so people could not take advantage of her position in society. But watching her now as she slept, she seemed so utterly vulnerable and it just reminded the demon that even she- who is practically a trained fighter and knows how to talk her way out of almost every situation- is still a fragile little human.

But even then, she was still somewhat admirable. Sebastian liked her attitude, although he sometimes found her over persistence, confidence, and independency annoying. She wasn't over emotional like many other women, especially of her age. He also found it peculiar that she never once ordered him or anybody else to do something. She always put her requests in the form of a question, as if he a choice in the matter. Sebastian, although he hated to admit it, even found her looks a bit charming. He had never once been really attracted to a human in the slightest, though he had seen a countless number through his long life. There was just something about her that made her…different. She had a pale and near perfect complexion, with a natural rosy coloring to her cheeks and lips. Her dark brown hair never seemed to appear messy and he was always surprised by the life that seemed to emanate from her big, deep green eyes. And beneath the man's disguise she wore, he knew she had curves that other men would sell their soul to touch. Probably the only imperfection she had was the deep purple mark of the contract they had formed together that was placed just below her left collar bone. Though normal people would have found it a shame to ruin such a beautiful human, Sebastian took pride to be the one to do it.

Suddenly his young Mistress began to stir. She gasped slightly and the demon could practically hear her heart hammer in her chest. After just a minute or so, her eyes flew open and she took another gasp for air, mouthing the word "father" as she did. As quickly as she began her sudden panic, she was able to calm herself down.

"Nightmare, my Lady?" Sebastian asked.

She turned her head to look at him. "Yes, but I'm fine."

"It's only natural to have nightmares. Especially because of what happened today and it nearing the anniversary of the day we met." Sebastian tested, seeing how far he might be able to go with the uncomfortable topic.

"I know. Where are we?" She looked away from him and out the small window.

Seeing her refusal to talk about the unpleasant events, he gave up on his attempt at pestering her and answered her question. "We're about ten minutes from the train station."

"Then I suppose it's convenient I woke up now." She said, pulling extra pins she kept in her coat pocket and proceeding to pin her hair up so she could go out in her usual guise. Sebastian watched her the whole time. "What are you thinking?"

"I was wondering if you always have to pin your hair, why not just cut it short. Why keep it long?" He semi-lied, for that was not the only thing he was thinking of.

"Because." She said simply.

"Because?" He pushed. She glared at him in response and the corners of his mouth twitched into a small smile. Oh how he loved annoying her.

She sighed and closed her eyes again. "If I fall asleep again, can you wake me a minute before we arrive?"

"Certainly. Are you tired, Mistress?"

"Very."

She sat with her eyes closed the rest of the way, but couldn't sleep. How could she possibly after the dream she had just had? It was terrifying, going through that again, even if it was just a memory now and nothing more. She knew it could never happen again; Sebastian had promised that she was completely safe until she had completed her goals and then he got her soul. Though that meant she would still die, most likely a very early death at that, the thought of him taking her soul seemed alright. She liked knowing where her soul was going to go when she is able die with no regrets.

"Please, wake up…" Sebastian said, tapping her very lightly on the shoulder. "…Master."


	4. Chapter 4

The freshly disguised Victor Abanglis exited the carriage while Sebastian and the horseman gathered her belongings. He walked calmly up to the ticket booth to see a very tired looking man, which seemed odd since the night was still very young.

"I need two first class tickets for a train heading toward Paris." Victor said, as the man yawned and said the price for the tickets. Victor handed the man a stack of money that he knew was probably more than double the price of the tickets. The man looked wide eyed as he started to count the money. The ticket man's surprise made Victor let out a small smile before shaking his head and saying, "No please, keep the change. I have a feeling you need that more than I do." The man beamed and thanked him gratefully before handing him the train tickets.

"Yet another act of kindness? Master your soft heart still surprises me after all this time." Sebastian chuckled darkly, appearing at his side once again.

Victor sighed at his butler's comment and continued on to where the Paris-bound train was stationed. He was immensely relieved that this evening's incident hadn't caused them to miss it. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling a tad homesick and not to mention being constantly alone with only Sebastian for company was starting to annoy him. The faster he could be home and enjoy some of his normal company, the better.

He boarded the train and Sebastian led him to an empty cabin that already had all of his belongings packed neatly on the overhead shelves. The Earl sat on one of the cushioned benches and began looking out the window again as the butler sat across and set his gaze on his master. Victor could feel the demon's eyes like it was seeing through his very flesh and looking at his soul. He suppressed a shiver.

"Master, you really should try to sleep more. We have a long trip ahead of us." The corner of Sebastian's mouth twitched, revealing a cold smile before becoming mockingly serious again. "I would hate to see my humble Master grow tired and uncomfortable."

"I beg to differ…" Victor muttered. "Alright, if you do so insist, I shall try." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the soft fabric and surprisingly fell instantaneously asleep.

xxx

_The water was so cold. So numbingly cold. As soon as the water surrounded Vivianna, it felt as if tiny knives were piercing every part of her body. Not soon thereafter, she gasped, only to breathe in the liquid ice. She just began to lose feeling in her limbs and have her vision start to go dark, she felt a rush of air enter her lungs. She coughed violently and the water came up until she was able to breathe normally again. She looked up to find that she was somehow surrounded by a pocket of air with the lethal water now just inches from touching her._

_ "You have so much to live for…" A cold voice hissed. A pair of glowing red eyes shown through the dark water. Vivianna sat motionless in fear. "You asked for someone to save you… Did you not say those things?" The voice continued._

_ Vivianna somehow found her own voice, though it came out in a barely audible whisper. "Yes…"_

_ "I can save you…" She saw a wicked grin suddenly appear with the eyes. "For a price, of course."_

_ "A price?" She whispered._

_ "You see, my dear," the voice began, using the term of endearment with a mocking tone, "I am a demon. Being so, I have the ability to save your life, but I won't do it for free of course." Eyes and grin vanished and suddenly Vivianna felt a presence at her side. The demon's mouth was barely an inch away from her ear. She could feel the warm air that escaped his lips as he whispered to her gently, yet still so coldly. "I just want your soul as payment for my services."_

_ "But… Wouldn't that be the same as dying?" Vivianna thought aloud. She then shivered as the demon chuckled and grabbed onto her wrist._

_ "You did not listen to the rest of my deal. I will save your life now and promise to protect and serve you until you have completed what you desire to live for. Then and only then will I take your soul. You'll be able to die without any regrets."_

_ The demon stopped speaking and Vivianna thought about the offer. Life verses death. Selling her soul to a demon? Would he keep his word? Isn't she just damning herself? Vivianna's thoughts only stopped when she felt the pain of the freezing water as it touched her feet once again. She focused in front of her to notice that the demon was in the dark water again instead of right next to her. _

_ "A demon cannot break a vow and I cannot refuse any order you give me. I just warn you to choose quickly, for I am not very patient…" _

_ The water began rising slowly and Vivianna gasped. "Yes… Yes, I accept your deal!"_

_ "Good..." The grin widened and the water backed away from her. "Now in order to do this, I must place a Mark on you, sort of like a signature on a contract." The eyes and grin came a bit closer and she saw the outline of a very shadow like figure. "You get to choose where I place the Mark on you, but I do have to say that it has the most powerful effects when they are visible and as close to the eye as possible." _

_ Vivianna stood motionless for a second, before slowly pulling her right hand up and crossing it over herself so it rested on her heart, her fingertips brushing the spot beneath her left collarbone. The demon slowly stuck his arm out of the water and she watched him as he placed his hand over hers and gently moved it from the spot it was resting. He then pushed her left sleeve down and placed his hand on her bare skin and began muttering something she didn't understand. At first, she felt nothing, but suddenly it felt as if his hand was burning her like a branding iron. She screamed in agony, but the burning did not cease. In fact, it only intensified. The searing feeling started at her heart and coursed through veins as if her blood had suddenly turned to molten lava. The heat still lingered when the demon pulled his hand away from her, but did eventually stop. She nearly fell over, but a pair of strong arms caught her and held her tightly upright. She looked up to see the face of the demon…_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Hellooooo! So here's chapter 5 and Vivianna/Victor finally made it home! Yay! Ok, now that all this intro stuff is done we can start getting into the real storyline, which I'm really excited for! I hope you enjoy it :)**

**Oh and something I forgot to mention... In this story I'm going to make a lot of references to Catholic/Christian religion and even kind of play around with it a bit. I'm really sorry if you're religious and uncomfortable with this, but it's really essential to the story... ):**

**So anyway, please comment and stuff, it means a lot :)**

* * *

Victor woke up in a cold sweat, but rather than being fearful, he was rather surprised. Sunlight was streaming through the train's window and instead being in the upright position he fell asleep in, he was lying down on the train's bench seat with a pillow under his head and a blanket over top of him. And across from him, Sebastian was sitting with a tray with mint tea and strawberries.

"Good morning, master. I trust you slept well." The butler said as he added sugar to the tea.

Victor shot him a glare. "I think you know well enough how I've slept."

"Always plagued by nightmares." Sebastian smiled.

"Quite. Now," The Earl said, taking the tray from Sebastian, "what time is it?"

"About noon, my lord, you seemed to have needed a long rest."

Victor didn't respond, but rather took a sip his tea. This was going to be a long train ride…

xxx

It was night again when Victor and Sebastian finally reached Paris. From there they took a carriage to a northern seaport with a ship that would cross the English Channel. This small sea voyage, Sebastian thought, was the most entertaining part of their entire trip. Though he would not admit it, ships still made his master uncomfortable. To a normal person, you would think Victor Abanglis was born on a ship- he appeared so calm and collected as he stared down at the starry water. Sebastian could see past the façade though. His knuckles were bleached white from gripping the iron bars so tightly and the demon could tell by the slight show of pain in his eyes that he was biting his tongue.

He still remembers the day that he met Vivianna and how he saved her from death's gasp. She had never been more fearful than she was in that moment, which was slightly disappointing, but Sebastian could live with it. However, a few things about that instance were hard to live with. Things such as the incident itself, which Sebastian knew was a result of some sort of demonic influence, though he could not trace the source of it. Yet another curious thing was how she was able to summon him in the first place. Usually, only people who had given up on God and whose souls were already very twisted had the ability, but she was the exact opposite. She was religious to an extreme to this day, even after binding with him, and her soul was so clean and pure. It was nearly the equivalent to having the soul of an angel in the palm of his hand.

Not that her soul's purity messed with the taste. In fact it enhanced it. The most desirable souls are ones that are either very corrupted or completely perfect. The problem with this is no human besides the Virgin Mary had a soul like an angel, so it was much easier for a demon to target those which were soiled. This is what made his master oh so desirable and why Sebastian found himself so lucky to be the first to claim him.

Once they were safely on land again, a carriage took the pair north past London to the exquisite Abanglis mansion. It was early morning by the time they arrived and Sebastian once again had to wake his sleeping master to alert him of their arrival. Unlike every other time where Sebastian had awaked him and he had been annoyed, the Earl actually smiled. He got out of the carriage quickly, leaving the demon butler to gather all his things, and was greeted at the large double doors by the rest of his staff.

"Good morning, Mistress Vivianna! Welcome home!" The family of servants said cheerily.

"Good morning! It's good to be back." She said, allowing herself to hug them all. She loved them all very deeply, not only because they knew of her secret and she was free to be herself and not her alter ego around them, but also because they were like family to her, especially after the death of her father, leaving her the only Abanglis in the world.

Martha Richard, the eldest of the family and a sort of grandmother to Vivianna, smiled softly. Her hair was grayed and skin wrinkled with age, but with her age came such wisdom that only few had. She turned her head toward Sebastian who was now entering and gave him a knowing look that always made him wonder if she knew he wasn't human.

"I trust you took good care of her?" With Martha's question, all attention was returned to Sebastian, who bowed.

"Of course, madame."

"Oh how delightful!" said Martha's granddaughter Sophia. Sophia Richard was the youngest of the servant family, but she was still a year older than Vivianna. Because of this slight age difference she had also considered Sophia an older sister and best friend rather than a servant.

"Come Miss, let us get you settled back in." Sophia's mother and Martha's daughter-in-law, Jessa Richard, said. The mother and daughter pair were a lot alike. Both had light blue eyes and pale blonde hair and were rarely ever sad. They both took Vivianna's hands and took her up the grand staircase to her room.

Sebastian watched the three ladies carefully as they went. Sophia said something that caused Vivianna to laugh. Vivianna whipped her head around as she took in the sights of her home with a huge smile on her face before disappearing around a corner. Sebastian closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Strangely enough, seeing her smile just now made him feel weirdly uncomfortable. It was hard to place where exactly the discomfort was coming from, so he shook it off and looked at the remaining two servants. Martha still gave him that weird look before smiling slightly at him and disappearing down a corridor that headed to the kitchen.

Scott Richard, Martha's only son, was left staring at Sebastian with an eyebrow raised. The middle aged man walked over to the butler and took one of the cases he was carrying and started walking. Sebastian followed him. Even after a year of knowing these people, it was still odd to work with them. The demon was used to dealing with incompetent servants and having to do literally everything himself, so when he first arrived at the Abanglis home and found that the house was already very self sufficient and that Vivianna requested that he listen to the Richard family's orders, he had a lot of self adjusting to do. Even now he still rarely found something to occupy himself with when he had free time.

"Sometimes I still wonder why she agreed to hire you." Scott said after long moments of silence between the two.

"I'm sorry? I do not understand." Sebastian said.

"She hired you because you saved her. She felt indebted to you. But sometimes, I just wonder…" Scott mused. "You don't repay someone by making them work for you. She had other reasons for doing this and I just wonder what they are."

Sebastian smiled. "You are very intelligent Mr. Scott. Your theory is correct, but I'm afraid I cannot disclose the details because the Mistress has forbidden me to do so."

Scott threw him a glance before looking ahead again. "Well, whatever it is, I do not question her intensions. She seems to really need you, and you her…"


End file.
